Getting started with joomla 3. Tutorial for working with Joomla CMS for beginners. Social media and cloud computing

Hello dear readers of the blog site. This article is dedicated to beginners in site building. When you yourself have already passed this stage a long time ago (which takes place in the formation of absolutely any webmaster), it seems that everything is clear anyway.

Indeed, after immersion in the topic, everything turns out to be much easier than it seemed on the surface. But for this you need to immerse yourself, and it is best to do this with someone's help (at least in the form of instructions for beginners).

We will talk about working with the wonderful Joomla 3 engine, which in its current incarnation is a pretty solid product that meets modern layout standards (supported, for example), security and functionality (with the help of extensions on this engine, directories, blogs, photo galleries and more).

Today we will touch upon the key points for understanding the essence of working with this CMS, wander through the admin panel, consider the structure of placing materials in Joomla 3 and even work with tools for creating a hierarchy of categories. In general, we will get acquainted with the engine, learn not to be afraid of it and try to delve into the logic of fruitful work with it.

How the site on Joomla and the admin panel of this CMS are connected

We create the public version of the site on Joomla (or any other engine) from scratch - we install the template, fill it with materials, add modules with menus and other necessary tools. This version of the site will be the way you want to make it yourself. At first, right after installing the engine (if you did not install demo data), it will be something completely unsightly (the name of the site, a couple of menu items - an empty rack for your thoughts, splashed out on the Internet).

The part hidden from everyone except you (and those whom you deem it necessary to let there, for example, employees of your company, your significant other, or someone else) is called administrative panel or, in common parlance, the admin panel. Her appearance and the tools available in it are unified and will be initially the same for everyone who decides to create their own website on the Joomla engine. Why do you need an admin panel? So that you do not need to crawl through the files of your site and enter the texts of your articles into them. The admin panel allows you to work with the site as easily as you work with Word (at least in those aspects that relate to adding articles). Well, there are thousands of other features provided by the admin panel, which we will definitely talk about. However, the essence of working with it (logic) must be grasped, for this is the key to its development and successful use.

Despite the fact that the main part of your site, which will be available to everyone, is certainly the main one - in the admin area you will spend almost one hundred percent of your time allotted to work with your Internet project.

Joomla admin panel login and security issues

How to get to the Joomla 3 admin panel? Pretty simple. It is enough to add to the url address of the main page of your site through the slash "administrator". If my blog was running under this engine (in fact, I have WordPress), then to access the admin panel, it would be enough to type in the address bar:

Https: // site / administrator /

If you connect to your site via FTP (or go to the local server folder), then in the root (this is the place where you get right after connecting) you will really find the "administrator" folder, and inside it the index.php file, which launches admin panel. Everything is fair.

Php "? It is possible and so, but not at all necessary. The fact is that a web server (this is a program running on real or local hosting), when accessing a folder, will try to find the index file (with php extension or html) to open it. By the way, this is associated with an unpleasant moment (read the link on how you can and should fight this).

Actually, when you enter the URL of the main page of your site into the address bar of the browser, the URL of the main page of your site is also accessed to the real file. And again it is called index.php, but it lives in the very root of the site (at the same level as the administrator folder). This is exactly what it is classic example of the appearance of mirrors(for example, two URLs https: // site and https: // site/index.php will open the same page - why is this bad, read the link given in the previous paragraph).

Naturally, anyone will not be allowed into the admin area. Defense lies in asking enter username and password that you specified when installing this engine (on local or real hosting). We must not forget that sites on the Internet are very often broken (for example, in order to use it as a doorway). Moreover, it is not done purposefully, but "on the flow." Therefore, the not yet great importance of your resource will not save it from encroachments. and a non-trivial login can do you a good job.

For the greater website safety you can use various plugins that allow, for example, to hide your admin panel. That is, when you go to the address "http://vashdomen.ru/administrator/" you will not be prompted to enter a password. To enter the admin panel, you will need to use the path that the plugin will indicate to you. V this case I described the work of the jsecure plugin, but there are many other options, for example, creating another pair of username and password that will need to be entered after the official login from Joomla. But not the point.

The downside of a Joomla site (through the looking glass)

So, we found ourselves in the holy of holies of Jumla - in the admin panel. Only you and those to whom you have granted this privilege have access here (you can assign different access levels at which different sets of admin features will be available). If you have worked with earlier, then you will not have any special questions, because in the "three" and "two and a half" the general essence has not changed since then. Added convenience, beauty and security. The difference lies in the nuances, which I will not fail to mention.

How is the Joomla 3 admin panel arranged?

If you have never dealt with Joomla at all, then you will have to strain a little to understand the essence of her device. In general, it is not difficult, but for a person who has never dealt with the CMS, the logic of its work may not be obvious. Of course, I judge by myself, but you may be much smarter. Nevertheless I will continue assuming that you are a beginner... I will forgive the rest for the unnecessary details. Thanks.

The main page of the Joomla 3 admin panel is similar to what we saw in version 2.5 and even 1.5 (it is no longer officially supported, which may affect security). Actually, you can read about leapfrog at the link. In short, until 3.5 comes out, 2.5 will be considered the most stable. All versions 3.x are preliminary and not all extensions can be installed on them (for example, your beloved in Runet is not yet friends with a three-ruble note, but is friends).

There is a permanent drop-down menu at the top of the admin area, which has everything you could possibly need. As new extensions are installed, this menu will grow and expand with capabilities. The principles of classifying extensions have not changed since Joomla 1.5, and therefore I can advise you to read the article that explains, as well as how to install them.

There is currently no particularly significant information in the central part of the main page of the admin panel, but as the site develops, you will be able to track quite interesting information here. Left menu replaced the toolbar, which was in a polo and kopeck piece and a half. There are "quick links", which in essence duplicate some of the top menu items, but allow you to go to desired settings somewhat faster.

If you are not on the main page of the admin panel, but go through one of the items in the top menu, then the left menu will display those related to it. "Quick links", which again speeds up the process of working on the site in Joomla 3. For example, when you go to the new user creation tab, a menu with all the "quick links" you need in this difficult task will be displayed on the left:

Actually that's all, now it's time to climb inside and plunge into the wonderful world of creativity (website creation).

But no. The screenshot also shows a wonderful change that I personally lacked in version 1.5 - possibility automatic update Joomla until the last current version by simply pressing a button in the admin panel. Previously, it was necessary to do this, now even directly from the admin panel (with a few nuances). The beauty. So I'll just upgrade to new version 3.3.3.

In just a couple of minutes, the update files will be downloaded, unpacked and installed (you will be informed about this in real time). It is much more convenient than doing it manually.

What's interesting in the Joomla 3 admin panel? What is the first thing to grab onto? What is important and what is secondary? Why is there so much and what to do with it all? How to finally create a page, menu, add a picture or video? Well, it's completely incomprehensible, looking at all this path of menu items in the admin panel. At least that was mine personal impression from the first "clash" with the administrative panel of Jumla.

Let's start with orientation in the sense of understanding how to get back to the starting point, namely on home page admin panel, if you dig deeply into the settings of something (although I mentioned that you can get anywhere from the top menu, which remains unchanged for all pages of the admin panel). For this, the Joomla emblem, located in the upper left corner, as well as the top menu item "System" - "Control Panel" are used.

The second question to be solved is usually - how to go to the site from the admin panel to see the results of what you did there. This is again very simple to do - just click on the name of your site located in the upper right corner. This button is also duplicated in the lower left corner of the admin panel - "Browse Site".

Initially, however, your site will look like a miserable sight, but after filling and structuring it, everything will become "blue and green" (in the sense, beautiful) and your soul will "sing and rejoice." But to achieve this, you will have to work hard.

What can be changed immediately in the general settings of Joomla 3?

It makes sense to change some general settings of Joomla immediately before starting work. Let's try to do this. You can get into them from the top menu: "System" - "General settings". Right at this place it becomes very scary, because there are so many of them here (and this is only on one of the five possible tabs - "Site", and I don't even want to imagine what will be on the others):

But again, there is no need to be afraid, for I will try to guide you through this wild in the most simple and effective way. Together we are strong (do not forget to subscribe to the newsletter so that the next article from this section does not pass you by).

So, first of all, here you can change the name of the site, which you came up with when installing the engine (you could have hurried up or just write something "out of the ordinary", just to stay behind). Here you can also change the settings in the field of the same name (with the help of it you can format the texts of the added articles). True, you first have to install the plugin of the new editor, and only then go into the general settings and select "Default editor" from the drop-down list. In general, the built-in TinyMCE has a lot of functionality, but it will need to be configured (I think we'll talk about this separately).

But with these settings we will wait a bit, but for now we will create the convenience of using the admin panel. Better go to the "System" tab (from the top menu General settings) and look in the "Session Settings" area at the number in the line "Session lifetime"... By default, it is set to 15 (meaning minutes):

At first, this infection frayed all my nerves, because as soon as I stopped being active in the admin panel for more than 15 minutes (distracted by mail, went to drink tea, etc.), then I was thrown out of the admin panel at once and had to log in again and look for a place my last stay in the bowels of the admin area. The thread of actions was broken, and given the fact that at that moment I already behaved like a "blind kitten" (I could not always remember how I got to this settings page), this circumstance did not bring any positive into the work.

It is clear that this is done for security purposes, but 15 minutes (especially for a beginner) is not enough. Therefore, I advise you at the stage of development and acquaintance with Joomla to increase this figure ten times (and do not forget to click on the "Save" button located at the top), at least while you are actively working on creating a site (then you can install a smaller figure ). ...

Categories and materials - what they are and how to use them

Further. In Joomla, everything is built around such a concept as materials (content)... Actually, any site is primarily content, simply wrapped in different candy wrappers (templates). Without materials, the site will not be interesting to anyone (except you, of course). Users who accidentally get on it will simply have nothing to do there, which will provoke their quick departure and deterioration.

Articles in Joomla are added on the "Materials" tab - "Material Manager"... But do not rush to go there, because first you will need to prepare. What I mean? If we speak in the language of the layman, then we need to prepare daddies where we will store these very articles. And not only to store. Joomla has great tools for showing all the contents of these folders (either as a list or as small announcements) to users who visit your site. This is very convenient and we will talk about it in detail.

To create these same folders, we need to select the "Materials" tab - "Category Manager"... Earlier in Joomla 1.5 it was possible to create folders of only two levels of nesting - healthy folders called Sections, in which smaller folders could be located - Categories.

Many users lacked this, and in subsequent versions of this engine they abandoned the sections, but now you can nest some categories (daddies) inside others to any depth (level). Suppose you put category B into category A, and you have already put category C into it - as a result, you got three levels of nesting. Plague (although, until in practice you are faced with the need to use such a structure, you will not be able to appreciate the importance of this innovation).

So, go to "Materials" - "Category manager" - "Create" and open a category account on your site. In fact, by doing this you determine the structure of your future site- group the future materials that will be posted on it. This structure can then be used in the menu on the site in order to make it easier for your visitors to navigate in it.

What categories can there be? It all depends on the topic of your site. But it is better to think carefully about this issue in order to make provisions for the future and not to redraw an already well-working site, because in some cases this can cause some negative consequences (with the right approach, only temporary).

For example, for a tourism website, you can create categories top level with the names of regions of the world, and already nested in them - categories with the names of specific countries. You can also make a third level of nesting - regions or cities already within these countries themselves.

Creating categories and subcategories in Joomla

Abundance possible settings when creating a category in Joomla 3 somewhat discouraging, but you need to understand that in most cases you will only need to enter its name (this is the only required field in this form) and select the level of its nesting in the "Parent" field (select one of the already existing categories from the list, inside which will be invested the one that you are now trying to create), if this is required according to the plan previously developed by you (in our case, there is still nothing to invest in, because this category will be the first).

Field "Alias"(pseudonym) has not changed its purpose since Joomla 1.5 and allows you to correct the URL of the menu item that will refer to this category (you can use the symbols ,,, [_], [-]) .. If this field is not filled , then the system itself is a category and uses it in the url address (it turns out something like this - "https: // site / novsti").

You do not need to fill in the "Description" field, but if you do this, then when displaying a list or announcements available in this category of articles (by creating a corresponding menu item on the site - we will talk about this in more detail), the description you made will be displayed at the very beginning (you can use pictures for its design).

Save changes made now you can use as many as three buttons (in Joomla 1.5 there were only two options):

Save - you will save the changes made and at the same time remain on the same page
Save and close - the changes will be saved, and you will be transferred to a higher level (in our case, to the Category Manager)
Save and create - after saving, a window for creating a new category will open. Convenient when creating the entire structure of categories on your site.

Naturally, when creating child categories (subcategories), you will also need to select the parent category (in our example "News"), within which it will live in the future.

If you look closely at the drop-down list, you will notice there a category with the name "Uncategorised"... You didn't create it - so where did it come from? Everything is very simple. This virtual category was created by Joomla 3 itself and will store articles that you do not dare to categorize. This can be, for example, a page with contacts, directions, and the like. They will all live in Uncategorised.

In the category manager, child and parent elements are easy to track thanks to their visual display with an em dash in front of the name and offset relative to the parent to the right (the name of categories with an even higher nesting level will be displayed with an even longer dash):

There you will also find Uncategorised (no categories). If you want to edit something in the already created ones, then just click on their name. To remove unnecessary categories, it will be enough to put a tick (to the left of their name) and click on the "Add to cart" button located at the top. But as get into this very basket? For example, to delete everything from there permanently or restore accidentally deleted.

To do this, you will need to click on the "Search Tools" button located just above the list of categories, and on the panel that appears just below, find the "In basket" option in the "Select state" drop-down list. A table will open with a list of the contents of the shopping cart. To permanently delete a category, check the box next to it and use the "Empty Trash" button located at the top.

If you want to restore something from a previously deleted one, then click on the recycle bin icon located to the left of the name (Publish).

If you want to put something on the back burner without deleting it, then just click on the checkmark on the left to remove this category from publication(it will not be displayed on the site). You can view the list of unpublished items in the same way as we just viewed the list of items in the cart.

Actually, according to the proposed scheme create a category structure for the entire future site... If you haven't thought of everything yet, then you create something that you have already decided exactly how it will look. Next, we will consider the issues of creating new materials, menu items, customizing templates, installing the necessary extensions, and much, much more. I hope it will be interesting.

Better to see once than hear a hundred times - isn't it? So it seems to me too, so I suggest you look 15 Quick Start Tutorials for Joomla 3... They will be played one after another automatically, and if you want, you can switch to the next lesson using the corresponding button on the player panel or select the desired lesson from the drop-down menu in the upper left corner of the player window:

Happy viewing!

Good luck to you! See you soon on the pages of the blog site

The beginning of time

All novice webmasters begin to make sites with practically " scratch"(I was among them). That is, they open a notebook and begin to write code by hand. But sooner or later the moment comes when people think -" Isn't there such a program with which everything would be easier. "Of course, for experienced web -masters are more suitable for some kind of framework, because it has more possibilities, but for a novice programmer, an engine is more suitable, namely Joomla CMS.

Installing Joomla CMS

First of all, you need to download the engine from the official website: www.joomla.org
Have you downloaded it? Great, now you need to open the downloaded archive and extract all files and folders from the archive to the root directory of the domain (or virtual server like Denwer)
Now, you must install the engine. In order to do this, you need to go to the site (www.your-site.ru, or 127.0.0.1 if you have a virtual server)
The installation window has opened in front of you (depending on the version it may differ), everything is extremely simple there if you select the Russian language. You need to enter all the data that is indicated there, namely the database data (username, password), site name, site meta-data (for its further promotion in SEO), username and password from the site administration panel. That's it, the installation is over, you can start working with the engine itself.

What to do next?

Further I can give you only the basic details of working with the engine, tk. with basic knowledge, you can build a site of any complexity on this engine.
The engine has a modular system, that is, you can literally assemble a site. A module is like a certain part of the site, for example: Main menu, sidebar, side picture, logo, banner, etc. Working with modules is simple, you need to specify the type of the module (HTML code, menu, etc.), the name of the module itself, the position of the module on the site, and the content of the module itself. And all this will take you a maximum of 5 minutes, the engine is extremely simple for a novice user.
Next, do you need to create a menu? Not a problem, in the main menu of the admin panel there is an item "Menu", where you can choose: Editing an existing menu or creating a new one, there is nothing special about creating a new menu. You need to specify the name of the menu and that's it. We'll cover editing the menu as this is probably one of the most important parts of creating a site with Joomla CMS. Editing a menu means creating menu items, deleting menu items, and editing them. You can create a menu item by clicking on the corresponding button (I recommend downloading a crack for your version of the engine, but more on that later). Creating a menu item means creating a new page on the site, many newbies did not understand - "How to create a new page on the site". I didn't understand either, but after digging into the engine, I realized that the engine itself creates pages when creating a menu item.
And so, you clicked on the button to create a menu item. A new page has opened, you need to indicate the type of page you want to create, it can be featured articles, showing one single article, etc. (By the way, when installing extensions such as VirtueMart, the catalog page must be created in the same way). Next, you need to indicate the article that you will create a little later, I recommend that you read the part with the creation of the article, and only then read this part. Now, you need to specify the name of the menu item, do not write too long name because this will cause some problems with the display of the menu and in general with the design of the site. Next, you need to specify the alias of the page (www.vashsait.ru/glavnaya - the word "glavnaya" is the alias). That's it, this completes the creation of the menu, you can also add other menu items if you need it.

How to create an article to add text to your site pages?

In order to create an article, you need to go to the "Materials" menu and select the "Materials Manager" item there. Next, there you need to click on the green "Create" button. Everything is simple here, indicated the title, wrote the text and that's it. Next, you can specify the category of the article, and other parameters by selecting the appropriate item in the menu just above.

Extensions, templates, russification - how to install?

To install extensions, templates, language packs, the creators of Joomla have created a special extension manager.
You can enter it through the main menu of the administration panel by clicking on the "Extensions" item and selecting the "Extensions Manager" item there. Next, you need to select the downloaded archive with the desired extension and click on the "Download and Install" button. That's it, the add-on is installed. I cannot write how to use this or that extension here. there are a lot of extensions and there are many methods of using them. I'd better tell you how to put the installed template on the site. This is also very simple, you need to click on the "Extensions" menu item and select the "Template Manager" item there. Next, you need to find the template you installed, found it? Go ahead, you need to check the box to the left of the template name and click on the big yellow button at the top "Use as default". That's it, the template is installed! By the way, along with the template, the positions of the modules on the site also change, if there is no position on the template, for example "left" for the module, then the module will not be displayed on the site, so look on the site from where you downloaded the template for a picture with positions for the modules.

That's all, Nxdt was with you!

Tags: guide for dummies, joomla, undertaking

Only 14 lessons, a little attention and patience, and now you already know how to use one of the most flexible content management systems - Joomla. It is actually a universal engine that suits all projects..

1 Introducing Joomla
A small introductory part: about the possibilities, about the history, about the appearance - you will understand what you have to deal with.
2 Installing Joomla on localhost
Many webmasters start working on a website without publishing it on the Internet, but placing it on local hosting. How to install a CMS on it will be discussed in this article.
3 Installing Joomla on hosting
A step-by-step instruction with which any user can install Joomla on a hosting so that his site works on this particular CMS.
4 Introduction to the admin panel and basic settings
In the article you will find a lot useful information on the topic of customizing your resource. Starting with how to log into the admin panel and get comfortable with it, ending with how to change the session time, find help and delete some demo data.
5 Installing a template on Joomla
The lesson will tell you where to get the design themes for the engine, how to install them from a folder, archive or by link, and then activate them so that the site design changes.
6 Create Pages and Menu Item
How to add a page to the site, and then place a link on it so that every visitor can read it. This lesson will teach you how to customize pages and add items to the navigation menu.
7 Creating categories
8 Menu types in Joomla
Joomla is a fairly flexible system, which is reflected even in the work with menu items. There are a lot of menu types in Joomla, the lesson will tell about them.
9 Create a feedback form
If you want to maintain two-way communication with visitors - create contact form after completing this tutorial.
10 Modules, plugins, components
At first glance, synonyms, but in Joomla, it turns out that each type of add-on performs its functions in a different way. After reading the article, you will learn how to distinguish a component from a plugin, and a plugin from a module, where to find them and how to install them.
11 Creating a photo gallery
Pictures on the site are always important, but not taking advantage of the opportunities offered by Joomla extensions is a big omission. This article discusses the Phoca Gallery component - the most popular and most functional of the free solutions.
12 Creating a template on Joomla
In order not to use third-party developments, you can adapt your own (or any other) HTML template for Joomla. How exactly to do this is shown in the lesson with an illustrative example. The structure of themes is revealed, the correct approach to archiving and setting up the templateDetails.xml file.
13 Transferring a site from local hosting to a server
An instruction describing the algorithm and steps for transferring a site from home hosting to a real one. Everything is illustrated, everything is described in stages.
14 Online store on Joomla
Creation of a Joomla-based Internet project filled with goods, baskets and payment methods using the well-known VirtueMart extension. Read on, and you will have an idea of where to start creating an online store and how this process is generally built.

The course contains a lot of useful information, illustrated with examples and pictures. After passing it, you will be able to create and administer sites built on CMS Joomla. You will understand their structure and be able to customize them.

With a very rich functionality. Joomla's functionality is increased by numerous extensions. For website design, you can use ready-made free and paid templates or create your own unique one.

Joomla is a very popular content management system (CMS) (engine) all over the world. As of December 2017, it ranks second among free CMS (among domains in the "RU" zone). There are many ratings, so the data may vary. Plus, it is worth noting that Joomla is a universal CMS, you can create sites on it different types(with help additional extensions), including forums, blogs, online stores, landing pages, small social. networks, corporate sites, etc. But there are also specialized CMS, aimed, for example, at creating online stores or forums, etc.

The versatility of Joomla, as well as other universal CMS, has a drawback - the need to install third-party extensions that can conflict with each other, slow down the site, load the server, cause the site to be hacked, complicate the process of administering it, etc. Personally, I tend to believe what to choose this or that software and technologies available on the market for the creation of each specific project. But it is worth considering that this is not available to everyone. Not every more or less large website development firm can afford this approach due to its high cost.

I've been working with Joomla since about the end of 2009. Started with Joomla 1.5.7. I have systematically switched to 1.6, 1.7, 2.5 ... 3.x and now I will switch to Joomla 4. There are several projects besides this site. For example, and here. I make websites to order. Basically, these are websites of companies, private entrepreneurs and small online stores. In addition to creating sites on Joomla, I am engaged in increasing the loading speed, protection against hacking, SEO optimization and other related processes. Despite the fact that Joomla is not the most popular CMS, for the entire time of working with it, I did not need to switch to another system.

In this series of video tutorials, we will look at self-creation of a cafe website in Joomla. We will do this using free and paid extensions. All paid extensions will be provided with free alternative... The video tutorials will cover the main points for creating a website, ranging from Joomla installations on local server and ending with uploading a ready-made adaptive site to hosting.

V next cycle video tutorials you will learn how you can create an online store on Joomla.

Moments shown in this step by step guide will be useful for novice users. Despite the fact that the lessons cover the creation of a cafe website, you will be able to apply the knowledge gained to create a company website, landing page, business card, mini-catalog and more.

Basically, extensions from the developer RSJoomla will be applied, including their free template... Almost all the extensions discussed in the video tutorials are fully translated into Russian.

Video tutorials will be held in the latest stable, at the time of their recording (12/19/2017), Russian-language version of Joomla 3.8.3.

Preparing to create a website

Remember that the site, ideally, should be done not for yourself, the customer or the boss, but for other people - site visitors. It's great if you like the process itself and the theme of the site being created, and at the same time you are an expert, if not in the field of creating sites, but in the subject area to which it will be devoted.

Before starting to study the theory of working with Joomla and start practicing, I recommend going through the preparatory stage - "design". Real design is an important, complex and time-consuming process. We assume a short algorithm of actions that should be performed before starting the actual work on the site. Hope this helps you build your own website.

Step 1. Decide on the purpose and objectives of the site. For yourself, answer the questions (in the long term for 1.5-2 years):

What do you want to get from this site?
What will your website visitors get, do they need it and how much?

Step 2. Think about the needs of the target audience for which you are making a website. You should know them and their needs as best you can. You can "study" and ask your potential visitors both in the real world and by visiting forums, blogs, social groups. networks where they "dwell". So you will more accurately understand your future audience.

Study the needs of the target audience based on the analysis search queries... In fact, you need to compose the most voluminous semantic core (but without garbage). Cluster it (divide it into groups), determine the frequency of requests and, preferably, find out the concurrency for each request. It is possible to find out very approximately the inconsistency or by the cost of a click in contextual advertising or using special programs/ services for calculating competition. All this can be done, for example, in Rank Tracker.

This is very important step... Based semantic core and the needs of the target audience will need to build the site structure, URL addresses, write meta data, create content that meets the needs of the audience, etc. Plus, all this can then be used for contextual advertising.

Step 3. Explore, at least superficially, the market / subject area that the site will be devoted to. If you are doing, for example, an online store of goods for beekeeping, it will be very good if you understand the specifics, seasonality and other points in this particular industry.

Google - "Learn to Make Quality Websites."
Yandex - "Webmaster Help".

Also, it will not be superfluous to regularly read industry blogs and forums. Personally, the advice of the sites was useful and timely to me:

But in the textbooks of universities, the actual can not be found. There is either everything that is already on the network, or the same, but in other words. Although ... There may be exceptions.

In any case, do not rush mindlessly to do what you read about. Think, read more, ask for advice.

Step 5... Search for competitor sites on the search engines. For example, if you plan to have your site in the leading positions in the search results, open 1-3 of the most popular search engines among your target audience and enter a keyword there. A keyword is a hypothesized word or phrase that people will use to find you in a search engine. For example, for the site of an online store of goods for a beekeeper, this word may be "buy goods for a beekeeper." It is better if you select these keywords based on the analysis of search query statistics. I recommend choosing 3-5 of these keywords, one by one enter them into each of the search engines and make a list of the first 10 sites that will appear on request (it is better to write down the positions they occupy and the search engine in which they are in the top).

After that, clear the list of duplicate values. Then rank the list. At the top of it should be the sites that are most often found in the top 10 and ranked higher.

Without such preparation, I believe Joomla tutorials for beginners will not be as effective.

Having provided all the necessary, we proceed to the direct creation of the site (it is possible on local hosting). You can find out about this in the video below. Then select a hosting and transfer the created site to it. About the hosting that I use, read the article "Review of site hosting - Ukraine.com.ua". And we will consider the transfer process in the following articles.

To improve your site and the business that it represents, constantly work: regularly follow the industry news, try, test, listen to the audience, analyze and make timely edits.

If you are interested, in the article "Site Quality" more detailed information about this question.

Components, modules and plugins

The functionality of Joomla is supplemented and changed, mainly by installing extensions, which are divided into:

Components.
Plugins.
Modules.

There are also such extensions:

Templates.
Component plugins.
Localization files (languages). For example, crackers.

By "extensions" I mean all of the above points.

There are extensions, the results of which are visible only in the admin panel, only on the site, or here and there. Basically, all extensions are configured in the Joomla admin area. But thanks to the differentiation of access rights, you can work with some components from the front part of the site. Moreover, without super administrator rights.

All extensions, except for plugins for components, are installed the same way through the admin panel in the Joomla Extension Manager ( Extensions - Extension Manager - Installation). Component plugins are usually installed through the corresponding components.

Joomla has its own (built-in) extensions. But you can install additional ones.

ComponentsJoomla Components... They usually constitute the core functionality of the site. For example, the RSPageBuilder component (picture below) is used to create pages. We will work with him in the next lessons. Or the component DJ-Classifieds - serves to create a message board.

To display the component pages in the front part of the site, you need to create the corresponding menu items in the menu manager (more on this later).

Quite often, components are installed along with plugins, modules, and even templates.

PluginsJoomla... Available for setting in the admin panel in the menu Extensions - Plugins(picture below). They can extend the functionality of components or act as separate units. For example, JAmp is a Joomla plugin for creating pages using Google AMP technology (this is a "standalone" plugin), and the "Content - RSMediaGallery" plugin is used to display galleries of the RSMediaGallery component in Joomla materials(inside articles) (this plugin extends the capabilities of the component).

The results of actions of some plugins may not be visible on the site if you do not look in source... For example, plugins can optimize your site's loading speed. And the result of actions of other plugins is displayed in the form of galleries, videos, links / tables for file uploads, and so on. We will clearly see how such plugins work in our Joomla tutorials.

ModulesJoomla... Available for setting in the admin panel in the menu Extensions - Modules... They serve to display information on the site (both in the admin panel and in the front part). They can display galleries, text, menus, pictures, videos, and so on. Modules can derive information from components or be separate units. For example, RSContact (we will work with it in the video tutorials) allows you to display the contact form (this is an "independent" module), Tag Transform is a module that displays tags of the standard Joomla tag component in the front part of the site (this module expands the capabilities of the standard component "Tags" (com_tags)).

Modules are displayed in the admin panel and the front-end of the site in template positions (more on this below).

Component plugins... Installed through the component control panels or through the Joomla extension manager. Serve to expand the capabilities of components. For example, BIT VirtueMart Google Analytics is a VirtueMart plugin (a component of an online store) for collecting statistics when Google help Analytics (installed via Joomla Extension Manager). Typically, such plugins only work if there is a component for which they are intended.

Where to find Joomla extensions

There is a special site - “Joomla! Extensions Directory ”(JED). This is the official directory of Joomla extensions. There are paid and free extensions... There are no templates at the moment. As of 12/20/2017, the catalog contains 7997 extensions. There is a search and a convenient filter. The site is in English.

I recommend looking there. You can also search using search engines. In any case, it is better to download extensions exclusively from the official websites of the developers. You should not download anything stolen, downloaded from forums and various "left" sites. The article “Overview of JM Financial Services. Joomla Template 3 in Russian ”discusses the advantages and disadvantages of stolen templates, but this applies to any extensions.

When it comes to finding templates, I personally prefer the following developers:

Virtuemarttemplates.net. Templates for the component of the online store VirtueMart.

Template and Positions, Bootstrap Grid

Joomla Template is a Joomla extension that allows you to set the appearance and relative position of various elements of the site. It can be called in one word "design". The term "template" itself is used due to the fact that in Joomla in English such extensions are called "template" - in translation from English this is exactly the "template". For example, WordPress uses a different term - "theme". You can read more in this article.

Modules are displayed in template positions. Templates exist for the admin panel and the front-end of the site. You can familiarize yourself with the template, its customization and the placement of modules in template positions in the video tutorial below. There we consider how you can create a cafe website, and place slide show modules, menus, feedback, and so on in positions. Several modules can be displayed in one position.

At the moment, a lot of templates are based on the Bootstrap grid. To understand the principle, check out this article. Most modern templates are equipped with a layout editor, where you can change the grid and position of the templates (picture below).

Template positions have names. By specifying these names in the module settings, you can display certain modules in different positions of the template.

You can talk about the benefits of ready-made professional templates. But no one bothers you to create your own. It can be done manually, or with the help of special programs, for example, TemplateToaster.

In the articles “Answers to questions about templates for Joomla. Installation, configuration, uninstallation "and" Answers to questions about templates for Joomla. Making Changes »You will find additional material on working with templates.

You can manage templates in the Joomla admin panel in Extensions - Templates.

Joomla menus and menu items

The Joomla menu (picture below) is a very, very important element.

The menu can be displayed on the site and serve as navigation.
With the help of the menu, the components of the site are displayed in the front part.
The menu participates in the formation of page URLs.
Based on the menu, you can control the display of modules on a particular page.

To create a menu displayed on the site, you need (this will be covered in our Joomla tutorials):

V Menu - Menu Manager create a menu.
Create a menu item in the created menu.
V Extensions - Modules create a menu module by selecting the created menu and specifying the position and pages (menu items) where you want to display this module.

You can create menus or menu items without displaying them on the front of your site. This may be needed to generate URLs. individual pages, which should not be linked from the main menu of the site. For example, a site search results page.

Menu items are used to display component pages in the front of the site. There is a set of menu items available in Joomla by default, for example to display a material or a list of category materials. Plus, the list of available menu items can be replenished when installing components. Menu items have many settings that affect the display of the page they form.

URL, aliases, filenames

URLs are an important part of any website. This is especially important in relation to search engines. Because search engines in their results, they give users exactly the URLs of the sites. If you initially create an incorrect / unsuccessful URL structure, then in the future there will be difficulties and problems with its change. V Joomla URL page addresses, by and large, are formed on the basis of the menu. In most cases, especially with standard Joomla extensions, page URLs repeat the nesting of menu items (hierarchy) and contain their aliases.

As someone who hasn't used Joomla! Before, you should know where to start.

Maybe you have a friend or neighbor who uses Joomla !, and you want your own Joomla! site.

Maybe you are a small business owner, maybe you have a club or community that needs a website and for this purpose you want to use Joomla!

You may be a seasoned IT professional but haven't used Joomla!

In this case, you are starting a pleasant journey for you and we are pleased to welcome you warmly on behalf of Joomla! and encourage you to read Joomla! a beginner's guide.

Welcome to Joomla! the leading open source content management system platform.

Joomla! It is a well proven, effective and extensible tool, actively supported by the developer and user community.

Of course, you could spend your entire life learning Joomla !, if you master the basics, you will have the opportunity to create an attractive and interesting foundation for a website in a short time and without special technical skills.

Understand how Joomla works!

You might want to know how Joomla is built! and how its functions are interrelated.

In short, Joomla! consists of platform and extensions. There are several types of extensions, each of which is capable of performing specific tasks. Several extensions are developed as part of the Joomla! and are installed together with common package... If you want to expand the functionality of the site, you can install additional extensions.

You can compare it to this operating system computer like Microsoft Windows or Linux. You do not directly use the system itself (Joomla!); you use extensions to accomplish tasks. Some applications immediately become available, but you can also install or uninstall any others at any time.

Installing Joomla!

Here are some ways to install Joomla!

If you would like to test Joomla! and haven't purchased a domain yet, you can install Joomla! on your computer (your site will not appear on the Internet), you can install it using the XAMPP installation package. You can also easily create a working website using this link.

If you want your site to be available on the Internet, make sure you have an account on the web server. For most people, this means signing up with a hosting company and purchasing a domain that supports the main site address.

Option one: One-click installation. Many hosting companies offer an “instant” way to install Joomla! Follow your hosting provider's instructions for one-click installation.

Option two: regular installation. This method involves copying the Joomla! to your hosting account, unpacking, creating a database and then running the setup file. Complete instruction for installation from the link.

Option three: Demo site. If you have used the demo site, you can follow the instructions Reserve copy move the site to the existing hosting or create account hosting at the end of the 30-day trial version.

Let's start making our own Joomla! website

You are now ready to start creating your own content, web links, contacts, banners, and news feeds. Before you get started, you might want to read an overview of planning your website. Finally, you might want to install one of the thousands of extensions for Joomla!

Please remember that all extensions are independent developers. If you need help with a certain extension - best advice the developer will give it.

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